Taylor Qualifies for IAAF Worlds

Following a third-place finish in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the U.S. National Track and Field Championships, 2001 Harvard women’s track co-captain Brenda Taylor ’01 found just one obstacle keeping her from a berth in the IAAF World Championships—a 55.62 second qualifying standard which she had to meet by July 23.

But Taylor refused to let that barrier keep her from a trip to Edmonton and a spot on the U.S. National Team. She eclipsed the standard with a run of 55.46 seconds at the Zagreb 2001 meet in Croatia on July 2.

The performance placed Taylor second in a talented field, just back of Mauritania’s Bidouane Nezha who won in 55.14 seconds. Among those finishing behind Taylor was U.S. National Champion Sandra Glover, who clocked in at 55.56.

The performance was nearly a half-second improvement over Taylor’s previous personal best—the 55.88 second effort in Oregon exactly one month earlier that earned her an NCAA title in the final meet of her collegiate career. Taylor finished in 55.99 seconds when she earned bronze at U.S. Nationals on June 23.

Such dramatic single-meet improvements have been nothing new for Taylor this season. Her winning time of 56.11 seconds at Penn Relays in April was over a half-second better than her previous best mark of 56.64 seconds from the 2000 Olympic Trials.

At those trials a year ago, Taylor barely earned a place among the top 16 hurdlers in the nation. Her new personal record at Zagreb now places her among the top 16 hurdlers in the world. The best time in the world this year is 53.84 seconds.

Taylor’s Hungarian classmate Dora Gyorffy ‘00 is ninth in the world on the high jump performance lists, based on her outdoor-best effort of 1.96 meters, which she reached at Princeton’s Weaver Stadium during her final Harvard reading period.

Gyorffy, a 2000 Sydney Olympian, jumped in three world-class IAAF Grand Prix meets in a span of just eight days from June 29 to July 6. In those three meets, which took place in Italy, Switzerland and Paris, Gyorffy finished no worse than seventh but no better than sixth, with top performances ranging from 1.85 to 1.90 meters. The best jump in the world this year is 2.04 meters.

Gyorffy jumped 1.91 meters at the NCAA Outdoor championships when she and Taylor combined to give Harvard the highest score ever for an Ivy team at an NCAA meet. She graduated from Harvard still holding a share of the NCAA indoor high jump record at 1.97 meters.

Unlike Taylor, Gyorffy has proven herself in major international competition in the past. In her highest world place ever, Gyorffy took fifth at the IAAF Indoor Championships at Lisbon in March.

The IAAF Outdoor Championships at Edmonton will be held from Aug. 3 to Aug. 12.

The 400 hurdles competition begins on Aug. 5 and concludes, on Aug. 7, while the high jump qualifying starts on Aug. 10 and concludes on the meet’s final day.